Wonderwall

Brooke Shields: I Regret Losing My Virginity at 22

Brooke Shields says she wishes she learned to "love the way" she looked "earlier."

Why?

"I think I would have had sex a lot earlier!" the actress jokes in the June issue of Health magazine. "I think I would have lost my virginity earlier than I did at 22."

"I had the public and this pressure, and I wish I had just gotten it over with in the beginning, when it was sort of OK. I think I could have been much more in touch with myself," Shields -- who was a child model -- continues.

If she had sex earlier, "I think I wouldn't have had issues with weight -- I carried this protective 20 pounds [in college]," she says. "It was all connected. And to me, that's a health regret."

Shields, 43, also opens up about aging.

"The older I get, the younger I feel," she says. "Growing up, I was always the kid, but I spoke like an adult and was in adult roles. I didn't feel like a kid.

"The older I get, I actually feel younger! Which is good," she goes on. "I always thought when you get older, youll want to slow down, but I want to do even more."

She's also become easier on herself as she ages.

"As I'm getting older, I'm enjoying my vices so much more because I feel like I've deserved them," says Shields, who loves to treat herself to a "good hunk of dark Belgian chocolate."

One thing she's strict about: sunscreen. The actress had a "sun scare" -- a mole near her upper left lip that "keeps coming back," she says.

"I've had it for awhile, but a year ago my doctor froze it off and it turned out it was precancerous. I was panicked. I thought, Of course!" she continues. "Everything's started to be in place, and now I have to get that?

"When everything is going well, my Catholic guilt rears its ugly head and says, 'No, youre not allowed to be that happy, 'Were gonna give you cancer now!'" she moans.